A Whole New World
by Crescent Moonfang
Summary: Cocoon has fallen and the former l'Cie must create a new home on Gran Pulse. However, that may be harder than it looks, especially with the distrust towards them from the populace of Cocoon.


This is my first time posting something in a long while so this chapter may seem a bit rushed. So were many of the stories I planned to write, but what I'm trying to say is: don't criticize but give feedback. In my opinion the story that I have in my head sounds pretty interesting, but my problem lies in the way I write. So if you have something to say about where I can improve just do so by sending reviews.

Final Fantasy XIII:

A Whole New World

Chapter one: Dawn in a new world

Dawn came early on the world of Gran Pulse, the light of the sun slowly crept over treetops and rock sides onto the vast grassy plains of the world. The light reached the globe held aloft in the sky by a towering crystal pillar. The rays of the sun reflected off the crystal structure that was Cocoon and shone through the tents of the once Cocoon inhabitants who were gathered in the newly set campsite next to the monstrosity. A young woman could feel the warmth of the sun through the thin cloth of her tint and could already see the sunlight past her eyelashes, which were now starting to open. The woman sat up with a groan and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she blinked, struggling to adjust to the light. When she finally realized where she was she gasped and looked at her chest, which was covered by her sleeveless sweater and turtleneck. She zipped it down and looked at just above her breasts she then sighed and zipped it back up. _'So it's gone after all'_ Lightning Farron thought to herself as she lay back down with her pink hair splayed all over the pillow as images of the day before flashed in her mind.

It was odd how she could forget what happened the day before with just a bit of sleep. It still seemed so unreal. They'd fought against the primarch of Cocoon, who in secret was a Fal'cie and plotted to sacrifice Cocoon's civilians in an attempt to return the Maker to the world. Not only that, in the end they slew Orphan who was Cocoon's source of power and it was them who brought down Cocoon, but by a miracle the structure was saved, a miracle that required the sacrifice of two close friends.

She, Lightning Farron and five others had caused for this to happen. They'd been made Pulse l'Cie, enemies of Cocoon and fugitives cursed for eternity, but by some miracle they completed their Focus without the extinction of mankind and neither were they spending an eternity in crystal. _'Except for Fang and Vanille' _Lightning reminded herself as she pushed off her blankets and sat back up again, tired of all this laying around. She'd always been like this and didn't know what to do with her free time; it made her restless. That's why she worked so much when she was still a soldier. As the thought crossed her mind she wondered if she could pick up her old job again, that is if former l'Cie who caused the fall of Cocoon were even allowed in the army.

Lightning stood up, straightened her clothes ruffled by sleep and with a wave of her head threw the locks of her pink hair over her shoulder. Before she stepped out of the tent she looked to the other occupant of the tent. Still softly sleeping snuggled within her blankets with a peaceful expression on her face was a girl younger than Lightning but with the same hair colour, Serah Farron, the reason Lightning got herself into this mess in the first case. Fighting to rescue her sister from her cursed fate, Lightning became a l'Cie and started a journey to not just save herself and Serah, but also the lives of millions of people. Now she had her sister back who had been turned to crystal for mysterious reasons. _'It doesn't matter now' _Lightning told herself and she stepped into the chilly morning wind of Gran Pulse.

She looked to her left past hundreds of tents to the crystal pillar and her thoughts drifted off to her two friends who were still inside. "How are you hanging on in there?" She softly whispered wondering if her words would reach them and if they'd be able to answer.

"Mornin', sis." A voice interrupted her inner sanctity. She was barely surprised at the interruption nor was she surprised at whose voice it was. Although he was a heavy sleeper, she supposed he was tense as well. "I'm not your sister." She answered without missing a beat and without turning to look at Snow. She heard a chuckle and could already imagine the smirk on his face at her reply. "Is Serah awake yet?" He asked. "She's still sleeping." Snow was silent for a moment and then said: I see, then I'll let her sleep." Lightning finally turned to him looking in to his dark blue eyes covered by his blonde bangs. He wore the same cap as always and the same jacket. "Did you two have plans?" She asked this time. He shrugged in a nonchalant manner as he picked up his cool guy act; he usually did this when he was too uncomfortable showing his emotions. "Just wanna catch up with her." He answered and Lightning could tell that was all there was to it.

"Well, you have time to do that later, I have a feeling that today's going to be hectic." Lightning said as she turned to look at the pillar again. Snow joined her and spoke: "Were you talking to Fang and Vanille?" Lightning scoffed and said: "As if they'd answer back." Neither confirming nor denying Snow's inquiry.

"Who knows? It wouldn't be the weirdest thing that's happened to us in the last couple of months." Lightning could not argue with that. If someone had told her three months ago that she'd cause the fall of Cocoon, she'd probably arrest them for exceeding the limit in alcohol consumption. As she thought that, she realized how much she had changed and how much better it made her feel. It wasn't like she was always so cold and distant before, but she hadn't exactly been a proper role model either. Looking back on the events that happened and what it had changed in her, she wondered if some higher being was responsible for this and wanted to make her see her mistakes.

As soon as the thought reached the rest of her brains she scoffed at the ridicule of it all. Since when had she become so superstitious? Snow seemed to have heard her scoff cause he asked: "Is there something funny?" Realizing that Snow was still there she just said: "Oh you know, just having an inner joke." Snow raised his eyebrows at that. "Mind sharing?" Lightning now turned to him with her own eyebrows raised. Trying to throw him off she said: "Now I'm supposed to share my every thought with you? I thought you had Serah for that." Snow looked completely thrown off. "Really? Now is when you decide to develop a sense of humour?" Lightning smirked and crossed her arms. "Maybe you're just finally able to understand my humour."

"And apparently your humour involves mocking me." Snow sighed in exasperation. Lightning was really enjoying this. "Who said I was mocking you? I was dead serious." Snow now groaned in defeat. "Please don't let this go to your head."

"Too late."

"Fine, fine." He waved with his hands. "Just save it for the wedding please."

Lightning became silent again as he said that. The wedding. Her sister was getting married. It was still so strange to consider it. Her entire life Lightning was overprotective of Serah in fear tat something would happen to her and she hadn't approved of her dating Snow either. She thought Serah could get better than him and that he would only get her into trouble, but now she didn't think that anymore. Snow had his heart in the right place and wasn't just the punk Lightning thought he was. He may have had his faults, but so did Lightning herself. Now this naïve boy was going to marry Serah and she would become Mrs. Villiers. That would get some getting used to.

"You know if you keep spacing off like that I'm gonna get worried." Snow's voice interrupted her train of thought again.

She mentally slapped herself as she realised that was the third time in under half an hour. What was wrong with her today?

"Sorry… I just have a lot on my mind." She apologized. Something was definitely wrong with her with all her spacing off.

Snow nodded slowly as he examined her stature. "So do we, but Lightning, we can't read your mind. You have to tell us what's going on."

Lightning nodded. "I'll tell you." She paused. "When I'm ready." And then turned to walk away towards the pillar.

"Just as long as you do."

"She halted and called out: "Snow."

"Hm?"

"Do me a favour: take care of her." And with that she walked away.

It took less long for Lightning to reach Cocoon than she had originally thought, or maybe it just felt that way. It seemed like she had spoken to Snow only fifteen minutes ago, while she guessed the distance between their tents and the base of the pillar would take about forty-five minute walk. No that she knew the exact time and maybe it did take that long. She knew that she'd gotten lost in thought again during the trip, thinking about everything that happened. She had the habit of replaying it all in her mind in the correct order in the hope that she saw something that they'd missed before. There were still a lot of questions for Lightning: Why didn't they remain in crystal stasis? And why _did _Fang and Vanille? How did they even know how to save Cocoon? Had they known all along and had they been afraid? Lightning shook her head. No, maybe they would've been before, but after everything the six of them went through she knew that the two Pulse natives would've told them. Maybe they realized it at the last moment; maybe that was what their Focus was about. They weren't just sent to bring down Cocoon, but to release the citizens of Cocoon from their fal'Cie chains.

Lightning neared the pillar and lay down her hand on the crystal structure as if searching for a sign of Fang and Vanille's presence. She was shocked to feel warmth emitting from deep inside the crystal. It almost gave her hope and her chest felt warm. Who knows? Maybe not now, but a few years later they might be able to release their friends.

She looked up at the towering pillar with a soft smile on her face. "Are you hanging on in there?" She whispered wondering if they could hear her. Just then she heard a voice behind her. "Hey, you! What are you doing over there?" She turned to see a PSICOM infantryman approach her. He halted with a relaxed stand, which Lightning quickly noticed. This person wasn't a rookie. He carried himself around with a confident stride, but wasn't stiff that it made people nervous. "Civilians aren't allowed so close to the pillar." He said in a calm voice. "Our researchers still need time to examine it before we know how stable it is."

Lightning nodded. "You're right, sorry, I suppose I was just curious."

The soldier chuckled. "Curiosity killed the cat you know."

Lightning rolled her eyes at his sense of humour although she supposed she had it coming.

"In any case," He added. "I'll have to escort you away from here."

"I think I can manage on my own."

"Actually, it gives us something to do since were basically on guard duty with no clear directions so if you don't mind I'll walk with you a bit." He said with a hint of hopefulness.

Lightning was a bit surprised at his straightforwardness, but nodded nonetheless. "Sure, I don't mind." With that they walked away from the pillar and Lightning realized that if this man hadn't arrived so soon she might have stayed there for hours.

"So what's your name?" He asked looking sideways through his helmet.

"Lightning, you?" She asked in return.

"Van."

Lightning stopped. "That's a unique name."

"So is Lightning." Van pointed out.

Lightning softly chuckled. "I suppose so, but maybe that's because it's not my real name."

She knew Van had raised his eyebrows when she said that. "So you gave me a fake name?"

Lightning shook her head. "Not really, Lightning is the name I've been carrying for the last five years."

"Why's that?"

Lightning gave him a pointed stare. "I don't talk about that with people I've just met."

"Nor will you tell me your real name right?"

"Exactly."

Van sighed.

They continued walking in silence just the way Lightning liked it and Van seemed to be content as well. Lightning supposed she'd cut off any conversation that could've started. Knowing herself that was a relief, but as she thought about it she realized she might have been a bit rude, as usual. Also she wondered something as they headed towards the tent where Serah would probably be awake by now.

"Why do you want to know so much about me? You'll probably never see me again after today." She asked suddenly.

"Why? Are you planning on going somewhere?" He asked in return.

"I asked first."

Van shrugged in admittance.

"Well, I suppose it's because I'm just curious and I never mind a friendly conversation. I'm a guy who likes to learn things, experience new things and meet new kinds of people. Frankly you caught my interest."

Lightning looked at him like he was making fun of her.

"I caught your interest?"

"Yup, now it's your turn."

"Right, about if I was going somewhere." Van looked expectantly at her through his helmet so Lightning began. "Right now I wouldn't know where to go plus I can't just leave my sister, but I think that once we've got a grip on everything we'll move somewhere else and even if I didn't there are tens of millions of people in this camp and you have your duties."

Van just shrugged. "True, but that wouldn't be a problem. I basically have a map installed in my brain and like I said: we don't really have any orders. We've arranged patrols and are told to keep our guard, but the big shots are first working things out with the sudden fall of Cocoon."

Lightning nodded, but was a bit surprised at his casualness. He seemed to be her total opposite. For a while it stayed quiet when Van spoke up again.

"By the way, I've been wondering: aren't you Guardian Corps? I noticed your shoulder pads and your gunblade."

Lightning bit her lower lip. She did _not _want to make him suspicious, but she also didn't want to tell him about her current situation. She decided she'd tell him half of the truth.

"I usually wear my uniform even when I'm off duty and currently I'm on leave." She lied: she'd actually quit when this whole mess had started.

"I see." Van said and his tone sounded like he didn't believe it, but he left it at that, which Lightning was happy for. Soon they came to a familiar area and Lightning supposed they must be close to her tent by now. She halted however when she saw something happening in the distance. A crowd seemed to be forming just ahead and if Lightning's inner map was correct the crowd was gathering near her tent where Serah, Snow and the others were. This could not be good. She shared a look with Van who probably looked confused before she sped up with Van close on her tail.

Getting closer Lightning could hear people shouting out and if this was what she though it was they were in a lot of trouble.

"Hey l'Cie! How about you answer for bringing down our home?"

Lightning cursed under her breath when she heard that.

_Dammit._


End file.
